


Lovely limpet

by SarahSmiIes



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:34:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22271140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahSmiIes/pseuds/SarahSmiIes
Summary: An unexpected encounter in the elevator makes Jack finally want to confess her feelings // Post 17 x 12
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane
Comments: 14
Kudos: 81





	Lovely limpet

"C'mon, boss. What are you Sloane now?"

McGee's words were still echoing in his mind, as he stepped into the elevator. Sloane's been attached to him like a limpet for the past few weeks, talking sense into him whenever necessary. She was a lovely limpet, but still... she wasn't about to let anyone shake her off that easily. He disliked how unimpressed she was by his stares. All those years his stares were his only weapon when it came to shutting up people. But now he seemed defenseless whenever she was around, looking at him with her big brown eyes. It was a feeling of helplessness that he... the more he thought about it, he didn't even know the last time he felt that helpless. His thoughts wandered so much that he did not even notice that the elevator remained on the same floor. He hadn't pressed a button yet. The second he noticed this, the door opened.

"Oh... Hey Gibbs," Jack said, visibly surprised to see him. She was well aware that Gibbs could use a little space after everything that had happened in the past few days, and she fully respected his decision to stay out of her way to avoid a conversation about his mental state. As the elevator doors closed behind her, he gave her a nod.

"Ground floor?" he asked, while still keeping his finger over the buttons, just in case she wanted to get to another floor.

"Yes, thank you", she replied with a smile. There it was again. The elephant in the room, whenever the two of them were alone and didn't yell at each other. Wait a minute... did she really just wish he was still angry just to make the situation less awkward? Ok, Sloane. This has to stop. It's now or never. She took a deep breath and then leaned forward to stop the elevator. Gibbs immediately gave her a worried look.

"Jack, are you okay?" he asked, searching for her eyes. Jack, however, took another deep breath and took a few steps to stand near him, avoiding his gaze. "You wanna breath again?" Gibbs asked with a mildly humorous undertone.

But Jack was not in the mood for joking. She looked at him. A slight sadness spread across her face. What has she gotten herself into? "Gibbs... I wanted to talk to you about something", his eyebrows went up.

"In the elevator?" he interjected skeptically.

"Yes, in the elevator. I don't want to carry this around any longer and pretend it's nothing." There was that slight sadness on her face again that worried him.

"Jack, talk to me," his concern for her broke her heart so badly that she felt as if she could hear it crack. How could such a smart man be so stupid?

"I'm trying, Gibbs. And please don't look at me like that, or I won't be able to do this," said Sloane, trying to pull herself together. Her whole body began to shiver. Come on, Jack. Stop acting like a teenager. Let him turn you down so you can finally move on. The silence was painful and seemed endless as she finally managed to say something.

"Okay, Gibbs. Look, I know the last few weeks have been really tough on you," now that she said it, she only realized that she was about to put an extra burden on the man she loved.

"Eh...", she continued as she looked into his blue puppy-dog eyes.

Dammit, Sloane. Gibbs thought to himself. Just say it. "Ya ain't good at talking t'day", he said with a soft smile to somewhat loosen up the situation, but he did not succeed. Instead, it caused Sloane to cover her face with her hands.

"Hey," he said in a gentle voice, softly stroking her back. "Ya can tell me anything. Just talk".

He never thought he'd have to get her to talk. Usually she was the one pushing him to talk to her. That's what made this situation so distressing.

"The elephant", Sloane finally said. Gibbs frowned a little.

"The painting? Way better than the bug, if you ask me", he said. Now he was the one avoiding her gaze. He had an idea where this conversation was going. He wasn't sure he liked it.

"Gibbs..." Sloane whispered softly. "I no longer want this dance."

Her voice sent shivers down his spine. "What do ya mean? Dance?", he looked at her with an innocent stare and immediatly felt remorse growing in his heart. He knew exactly what she was talking about, but he wasn't ready. Not ready to deal with this thing between them. Deep down, he could sense how Jack felt about him. But he kept pushing her away for weeks, no months. He didn't want to hurt her, but the way he handled things only made her hurt more. One look into her eyes was enough to confirm this. Jack's sadness suddenly turned into anger.

"Never mind. I already have my answer." Gibbs felt his heart pause for a moment. He watched Jack turn the elevator back on and suddenly sensed fear building up inside him. The thoughts in his mind were spinning. Was that it? Had his reaction destroyed everything? That was the last thing he wanted to accomplish with his answer, but he had no words to fix the situation.

The door opened and Jack stormed out, leaving Gibbs alone in the elevator.

Fuck.

**Author's Note:**

> I am not a native speaker, so forgive me if there are any odd phrases.


End file.
